British Trolleybus Systems: London & South-East England

Book excerpt: Although there had been experiments with the use of a new form of transport - the ‘trackless tram’ (better known as the trolleybus) - during the first decade of the 20th century, it was in June 1911 that Bradford and Leeds became the country’s pioneering operators of trolleybuses. There had been earlier experimental users – in places like Hove and London – and as the tide turned against the tram in many towns and cities, the trolleybus became a popular alternative with London becoming, for a period, the world’s largest operator of trolleybuses. This volume – one of four that examines the history of all trolleybus operators in the British Isles – focuses on London and the other systems of south-east England